The Comedians (1967)
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27% of critics liked it
(11 reviews) -
46% of users liked it
(566 ratings)
The humorous title of this story taken from the novel by Graham Greene gives the viewer the wrong impression. The story concerns the residents of a once-posh hotel in Haiti and the fate of the country's people under the despotic dictator Papa Doc Duvalier. Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) is the… More The humorous title of this story taken from the novel by Graham Greene gives the viewer the wrong impression. The story concerns the residents of a once-posh hotel in Haiti and the fate of the country's people under the despotic dictator Papa Doc Duvalier. Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) is the philandering wife of a South American ambassador Peter Ustinov. She seeks solace in the arms of hotel-owner Brown (Richard Burton), whose main focus is to keep making improvements on his crumbling building. Alec Guinness plays Jones, the suave charlatan who claims to be a retired military officer to hide his vocation as a shadowy weapons dealer. Brown later gets a sudden twinge of morality and decides to go off to the mountains to help the rebels in their heroic cause. Watch for silent film great Lillian Gish as Mrs. Smith in this plodding drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Directed By
- Peter Glenville
- Written By
- Graham Greene (I)
- Genres
- Drama, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 31, 1967 Wide
Critic Reviews
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, TIME Magazine
At such moments of transcendent drama -- and there are enough to make it worthwhile -- The Comedians is easily forgiven its other sins.
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Variety Staff, Variety
A plodding, low-key, and eventually tedious melodrama.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
A sadly inept adaptation of Graham Greene's novel.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
It is conventional and obvious, indeed, and is rendered no better or more beguiling by some rather superfluous additions of amorous scenes.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The movie tries to be serious and politically significant, and succeeds only in being tedious and pompous.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Richard Burton
as Brown
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Elizabeth Taylor
as Martha Pineda
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Alec Guinness
as Maj. Jones
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Peter Ustinov
as Ambassador Pineda
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Paul Ford
as Mr. Smith
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Lillian Gish
as Mrs. Smith
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Georg Stanford Brown
as Henri Philipot
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Roscoe Lee Browne
as Petit Pierre
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Gloria Foster
as Mme. Philipot
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Zakes Mokae
as Michel
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Douta Seck
as Joseph
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James Earl Jones
as Dr. Magiot
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Cicely Tyson
as Marie Therese
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Raymond St. Jacques
as Capt. Concasseur
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Robin Langford
as Angelito
